Nankeen Night Heron (Nycticorax caledonicus) [XC175100]
by Frank Lambert from Twin Lakes, Negros Oriental, Central Visayas, Philippines (flight call)
Nankeen Night Heron (Nycticorax caledonicus) [XC290185]
by Philippe Verbelen from , Solomon Islands (call)
Nest
A scanty platform composed of sticks, placed on a horizontal branch of a tree. In colonies, sometimes large.
Eggs (Guide)
Usually 2 - 3; chalky light turquoise; oval; about 51 x 37 mm. Incubation: 21 days; by both sexes.
Young
Semi-altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in about 49 days. Fed by both parents.
Subspecies
Forms superspecies with Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax), with which has hybridized in Java, Sulawesi and Philippines. Subspecies crassirostris of Bonin Is extinct.
The following 7 subspecies are recognised:
caledonicus (Gmelin, 1789) - New Caledonia.
manillensis Vigors, 1831 - Philippines, eastern Borneo and Sulawesi.
hilli Mathews, 1912 - Australia north to Java and New Guinea.
pelewensis Mathews, 1926 - Palau and Caroline Is.
mandibularis Ogilvie-Grant, 1888 - Bismarck Archipeligo to Solomon Islands.
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
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Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9